Region Ten singled out by PPP for special punishment – APNU

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) will be holding a rally tomorrow at 6:00pm at the Palm Tree Cinema Square in Linden. APNU said in a press release yesterday that this rally is “being held in a region where poverty, deprivation and destitution are on the rise.”

According to APNU, “the region has been singled out by the PPP/C for special punishment” (and) “to understand the plight of the people of Region 10, add to this policy of vindictiveness and spitefulness the PPP/C’s incompetence and notorious corruption.”

This rally is expected to be addressed by Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, Carl Greenidge, Deborah Backer and speakers from Region 10, and it is intended to continue the conversation with the citizens of Region 10 and to increase the political tempo in support of APNU.

The rally tomorrow will urge the people of Region Ten “to assert their humanity and mobilise all their energies to end the years of torment and intensify the struggle for a better life and a new tomorrow,” APNU declared in its release.

Meanwhile, APNU noted a number of issues which it said are of concern to the people of Linden and Region 10.

APNU pointed out that the Region 10 office of the Guyana Elections Commission is located in a building that is known to be inhabited by key operatives of the PPP/C and “this raises questions about the independence and impartiality of that office and the likely impact of this on the conduct of free and fair elections at Linden.”

Only NCN

Moreover, APNU said, the PPP/C government continues to restrict the people of Linden and Region 10 to viewing and hearing only NCN broadcasts, depriving them of the freedom to choose what they wish to view on TV or hear on radio while offering a daily diet of crude PPP/C propaganda.

The people of Linden and Region 10 are demanding a change in this situation and an APNU-led government of National Unity “will end this unacceptable situation by granting Lindeners and the people of Region 10 the right to own and view private radio and television.”

The unemployment rate at Linden and Region 10 is well above the national average, APNU contended.

And what is more worrying, the release noted, is that there are investors, such as those who wanted to develop a citrus farm in the intermediate savannahs between Ituni and Kwakwani but are “prevented from doing so by a government that is bent on punishing Region 10 because the community supports the APNU.”

In consultation with the people of Region Ten, APNU said, it will implement a comprehensive development programme for the region which will include the diversification of its economy through the provision of fiscal and other incentives to encourage productive new investments, utilizing the strong skills base still resident in Region 10.

In addition, APNU said, the bauxite industry will be resuscitated while evaluations will be conducted to encourage the exploitation of the kaolinitic clays of the region.

Road construction

“It is evident to the people of Region 10 that the aim is not to provide them with proper roads, but to provide PPP/C linked contractors with the opportunity to plunder state resources.”

Lindeners have noted, the release stated, that many of the roads and other infrastructure that the government has built are already in a state of disrepair.

In addition, taxpayers’ money continues to be wasted on the Linden to Kwakwani road by the payment of millions of dollars each year to PPP/C-linked contractors who throw overburden on the surface only to have it washed away when the rains come, the release added.

Against that background, APNU said that it will build a proper all-weather road from Linden to Kwakwani which will encourage development through investment in the region.

APNU said also that there is a high level of unemployment compounded by the high cost of living in the region and this is creating many social problems that are deepening the crisis in the community.

However, recognizing the link between economic deprivation and social problems APNU said it will take the required measures to bring employment to the region, reduce the cost of living and deal with the social problems affecting the community.

West Watooka

The West Watooka area has the potential to become the bread basket of Region Ten and farmers there expressed their concerns to PNC executive member Aubrey Norton last Sunday when he and APNU campaign field workers visited the area.

Farmers said that requests to the agriculture minister to have proper systems of drainage and irrigation fell on deaf ears and the minister “seems obsessed with providing a Hymac whatever is the problem to be addressed,” the release said.

Meanwhile, the community of Linden, in general, and West Watooka in particular, condemned the government’s waste of millions of taxpayer’s dollars to construct a tarmac which they have labelled a farmers’ market but actually this structure is now a white elephant.

While the PPP/C government is boasting about building a state-of-the-art hospital in Linden, the people have pointed out that, contrary to PPP/C propaganda, health delivery has not improved.

Therefore, APNU has promised a complete overhaul of the health system in Linden with the focus on improved human resource development and the availability and delivery of quality health services.

The community is suffering also from an inefficient water delivery system and although the PPP/C government claims to have spent millions to drill a new well, it is providing little or no water.

The people are still dependent on the old well at Amelia’s Ward but the quality of water leaves much to be desired, since the government has failed to give the operators the required training to deliver quality water.

APNU said that it recognises that the topography of Region Ten is well suited for the use of less costly gravity flow systems for the supply of potable water.

In addition operators will be trained to manage the delivery of potable water to the people of Region Ten, the release added.